We are pleased to announce the winners of Rising Stars in Polymer Science 2025 as young, influential. Polymer Journal has been enriched by the complex of wonderfully talented and diverse groups of these young scholars, in addition to outstanding teams of well-established senior researchers. They bring a variety of new insights, both personal and professional, to the task of better understanding polymer science and engineering. Here they provide us with an array of novel observations drawn from such disciplines as synthesis, structure and physical properties and functions, and applications. We believe our readers will appreciate the opportunity to learn new voices in this special issue.

Tatsuki Abe

Kyushu University

Tatsuki Abe is an assistant Professor at the Center for Polymer Interface and Molecular Adhesion Science, Kyushu University, Japan. He received his B.Eng. (2017) and Dr. Eng. (2022) from the Department of Applied Chemistry at Kyushu University, under the supervision of Professor Keiji Tanaka. From 2019 to 2020, he was a visiting scholar in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Michigan (Prof. Zhan Chen’s laboratory), where he engaged in research on polymer interfaces using sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy. He began his academic career as a research associate at the Center for Polymer Interface and Molecular Adhesion Science in 2022 and has served as an Assistant Professor since 2024. His research interests lie in the structure and physical properties of polymers and adhesion science.

Daisuke Aoki

Tokyo University of Science

Daisuke Aoki received his Ph.D. in 2021 from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, where he studied the synthesis of comb polyurethanes under the supervision of Prof. Hiroharu Ajiro. He was supported by a JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists (DC2) from 2019 to 2021. After completing his Ph.D., he joined the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, as an Assistant Professor. Since 2024, he has been participating in the JST ACT-X program, “Trans-Scale Approach Toward Materials Innovation”. His current research focuses on developing toughening strategies for polymeric materials, particularly glassy polymers, through ionic interactions.

Reika Katsumata

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Reika Katsumata is an associate professor in the Polymer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received a B.E. and M.E. in Organic and Polymeric Materials from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Institute of Science Tokyo) and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Leading the Katsumata Research Group at the intersection of chemical engineering and materials science, she focuses on revealing material performance that is otherwise impossible by designing extremely confined soft/hard interfaces. Her three main research thrusts involve: (1) leveraging rapid thermal annealing to synthesize functional porous materials and defect-healing/doping 2D materials; (2) developing reprocessible crosslinked polymers through ultrasound-mediated bond-exchange reactions for sustainability; and (3) laying the foundation by understanding polymer dynamics and wettability at interfaces. Her contributions have been recognized through numerous honors, including the NSF CAREER Award, AFOSR Young Investigator Award, JST PRESTO Award, ACS PMSE Early Stage Investigator Award, ACS-PRF Doctoral New Investigator Grant, the 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, and selection as one of the ACS Polymers Au Rising Stars in Polymers and Emerging Investigators recognized by Molecular Systems Design & Engineering (MSDE).

Soochan Kim

Sungkyunkwan University

Soochan Kim received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), South Korea. From 2021 to 2024, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford with Prof. Mauro Pasta and at the University of Cambridge with Prof. Michael De Volder, U.K. He is currently an assistant professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at SKKU. His research focuses on the design of advanced functional polymer materials and their applications in next-generation energy storage systems.

Feng Li

Hokkaido University

Feng Li received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Peking University in 2011. He obtained his Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Masahiro Terada from Tohoku University in 2016 in organic chemistry. He stepped into the research field of polymer chemistry by conducting his postdoctoral research at Yale University (2017–2019 with Prof. Mingjiang Zhong) and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) (2019–2020 with Prof. Harm-Anton Klok). He moved to Kanazawa University as a Specially Appointed Assistant Professor at the end of 2020. In 2022, he joined his current position as an Assistant Professor at Hokkaido University. His current research interests centered at sustainable polymer chemistry, which includes utilizing biomass to synthesize novel sustainable polymer materials, developing environmentally friendly catalytic methods, and chemical recycling. He received the Award for Encouragement of Research in Polymer Science; The Society of Polymer Science, Japan(2024).

Tsukuru Masuda

The University of Tokyo

Tsukuru Masuda received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 2017 under the supervision of Professor Ryo Yoshida. He was a postdoctoral researcher and a research fellow (PD) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for Young Scientists in the group of Professor Atsushi Maruyama at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. From April 2019 to March 2025, he was an Assistant Professor in the group of Professor Madoka Takai at the University of Tokyo. In April 2025, he became a Project Lecturer in the group of Professor Takamasa Sakai at the University of Tokyo. His research interests include soft interfaces, polymer gels, polymer brush surfaces, controlled radical polymerization, and machine learning modeling. He won Award for Encouragement of Research in Polymer Science; The Society of Polymer Science, Japan in 2022.

Atsushi Matsumoto

University of Fukui

Atsushi Matsumoto is a senior assistant professor at the University of Fukui, Japan. He has received his B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science from Osaka University (currently The University of Osaka). During his doctoral program, he has also conducted research as a visiting scholar at The Pennsylvania State University, USA. After obtaining his Ph.D. in 2017, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University until 2021. Dr. Matsumoto’s research interests mainly lie in the rheology and physical chemistry of polymeric systems, with a focus on poly(ionic liquid)s and polyelectrolyte solutions. His work has contributed to the fundamental understanding of structure–property relationships in charged polymers using rheological, optical, and microrheological techniques. In recognition of his contributions to the field of rheology, he has received the SRJ Young Researcher Award for 2024 from the Society of Rheology, Japan. He has also been honored with the Outstanding Reviewer Award from Soft Matter and a Best Poster Award at the 8th Pacific Rim Conference on Rheology.

Yuichiro Nishizawa

Okayama University

Yuichiro Nishizawa received his Ph.D. in 2022 from Shinshu University. He was a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), serving first as a DC2 fellow from 2020 and then as a PD fellow from 2022. Since 2024, he has been a Specially Appointed Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Environmental, Life, and Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, and currently serves as a Specially Appointed Research Assistant Professor at the same institution.

His recent research focuses on the characterization of synthetic polymer materials using high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) and the investigation of interfacial electrokinetic phenomena in soft polymer microparticles.

Kouki Oka

Tohoku University

Kouki Oka received his B.Eng., M.Eng., and Ph.D. degrees from Waseda University. He also received joint supervision as a visiting student and researcher at Uppsala University during his doctoral course. Following his Ph.D., his career included a postdoctoral fellowship (PD and CPD) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor. He then joined the Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials at Tohoku University as a Senior Lecturer in 2023 and was promoted to associate professor in April 2025. His major interests are advanced organic functional polymers and materials for batteries, sensors, hydrogen storage, and catalysis. He received the JSPS Ikushi Prize (2021) and the Encouragement Award of the Adhesion Society of Japan (2025).

Shigehito Osawa

Toyo University

Shigehito Osawa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Life Sciences at Toyo University. He received his B.Eng. in 2011, M.Eng. in 2013, and Ph.D. in Engineering in 2016, from the University of Tokyo. His doctoral research was conducted under the supervision of Prof. Kazunori Kataoka. Dr. Osawa began his academic carrier in 2016 as a researcher at the Innovation Center of NanoMedicine (iCONM), Kawasaki Institute of Industrial Promotion. In 2018, he joined the Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science Division I, Tokyo University of Science, as an Assistant Professor. He then served as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Advanced Biomedical Engineering and Science (ABMES), Tokyo Women’s Medical University, starting in 2023. Since 2024, he has held his current position at Toyo University, where he leads the Laboratory of Biomacromolecular Material Science and Engineering. Throughout his career, Dr. Osawa has specialized in the synthesis and design of polymers for life science applications.

Chien-Chung Shih

National Yunlin University of Science and Technology

Chien-Chung Shih is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (NYUST), Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University in 2016 under the supervision of Prof. Wen-Chang Chen. From 2016 to 2019, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at National Taiwan University, and from 2019 to 2021, he conducted postdoctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Zhenan Bao at Stanford University. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of conjugated polymers for applications in organic solid-state electronics, with particular emphasis on achieving stretchability, integration, and miniaturization.

Hao Sun

University of New Haven

Dr. Hao Sun is an assistant professor of chemistry and the Director of Advanced Polymer Research Laboratory (APRL) at the University of New Haven (UNH), USA. Prior to his appointment at UNH, Professor Sun obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, and received postdoctoral training at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Professor Sun’s current research activities focus on synthetic polymer chemistry, chemically recyclable materials, nanotechnology, and biomedicine, leveraging a multidisciplinary approach to addressing challenging problems in human health and the environment. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award (2024), the NSF LEAPS-MPS Award (2023), and ACS Petroleum Research Fund New Investigator Award (2023).

Atsushi Tahara

Tohoku University

Atsushi Tahara received his B.Eng.(2008), M.Eng.(2010), and Ph.D. degrees (engineering) in 2013 from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) under the supervision of Professor Hiroharu Suzuki, who majors in organometallic chemistry. After getting Ph.D., he worked at the Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering (IMCE), Kyushu University as an assistant professor at the laboratory of Prof. Hideo Nagashima, about the development of catalysts for organic reactions. During his stay between 2013-2021, he visited Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) to collaborate with Prof. Atsushi Goto, a polymer chemist in 2016. In January 2021, he was accepted as a FY2020 “LEADER” in JSPS, and in April 2021 moved to Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences (FRIS), Tohoku University as a PI assistant professor till present. His present research interest is utilization of biomass compounds by interdisciplinary sciences. He received the Seiichi-Tejima Award for doctor thesis (2014), the ADEKA Award in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan (2017), UBE Foundation Encouragement Award (2025).

Yusuke Yasuda

The University of Tokyo

Yusuke Yasuda received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees for his research on slide-ring materials from the University of Tokyo, under the supervision of Professor Kohzo Ito in 2020. During his Ph.D. course, he was selected as a MERIT fellow and JSPS DC2 research fellow. He began his research career as a JSPS postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tokyo. In 2021, he was appointed as a tenure-track researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and he obtained a permanent position in 2022. In 2024, he moved to Kansai University as a project-specialized assistant professor and subsequently joined the University of Tokyo, as an assistant professor. His research interests focus on the structure–dynamics–property relationships in cross-linked polymer networks, particularly supramolecular gels and elastomers. He has actively studied polyrotaxanes, slide-ring gels, and dynamic bond elastomers using molecular dynamics simulations. He received the 2023 Paper Award from the Society of Rheology, Japan.

Yuta Yoshizaki

Tohoku University

Yuta Yoshizaki received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Applied Chemistry, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan in 2012, 2014, and 2017, respectively. He worked as a Specially Appointed Assistant Professor of Organization for Research and Development of Innovative Science and Technology, at Kansai University, from 2017 to 2020. He then moved to the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University as an Assistant Professor from 2020 to date. His research interests are functional polymer-based biomaterials, including polymeric nanomaterials, injectable polymers, and biointerface materials.

Yuwen Zeng

Fudan University

Yuwen Zeng received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry in 2015. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Eric Jacobsen at Harvard University from 2016 to 2018. Subsequently, he joined Prof. Michael Strano’s research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he started the research on two-dimensional (2D) polymeric materials. In 2022, he became a Principal Investigator at Fudan University. His research interests are centered on the forefront of synthetic 2D polymeric materials, including the mechanistic insights of irreversible 2D polymerization, the design and synthesis of novel 2D polymeric structures, and the exploration of innovative applications based on their unique properties.